Ryan Dadoun

Experts Analysis

Western Deadline Grades

Sometimes the best trade is the one you don’t make. That’s certainly the philosophy many general managers took this season. While some teams, like Los Angeles, decided to make a big splash, others added just complementary players or stuck with what they had. Were they right to do so? We’re going to break down what each Western Conference team did over the month of February to see who were the trade deadline’s winners and losers.

If the trade deadline was in December, Anaheim might have been a big seller, but they’ve been red hot lately and have risen to the cusp of relevancy in the battle for the eighth seed. If that sounds like an unimpressive accomplishment, it’s only because, in the grand scheme of things, it is. While they deserve credit for their play over the last two months, their odds of making the playoffs are still very slim.

Still, their recent rise has filled the front office with enough hope to hold onto what they have and only make minor trades over the last month. We can forgive them for their inaction because their core is relatively young and we recognize that there is no way they could stomach trading their icon, Teemu Selanne.

Grade: C

Calgary Flames

Added: None

Lost: None

The Calgary Flames set the bar for what it means to be stuck in limbo. They aren’t a terrible team – aging stars Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff see to that – but they are neither a Stanley Cup contender nor are they moving close to that ultimate goal. They are a team that’s content to fight for the fool’s gold that is the eighth seed rather than admit defeat and start the desperately needed rebuilding process.

A team like the Anaheim Ducks can hide behind their young core as justification for keeping their team largely intact, but the Flames have no such excuse.

The Blackhawks’ post-All-Star Game struggles have highlighted serious problems the team has to address if they want to even make the playoffs this season, let alone still be playing into May and June. However, if they are to turn their season around, it will be with largely the same core they entered the 2011-12 campaign with. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as, despite their current struggles, they do have the pieces in place to compete.

The acquisition of Johnny Oduya adds depth to the blueline, especially with the injuries to Steve Montador and Niklas Hjalmarsson. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the season so this is likely a rental player.

Colorado made their biggest move before the deadline, acquiring Downie in exchange for Quincey. They had blueliners to spare and Downie has proven to be a great fit in Colorado. He already has two goals and five points in three games, going into Monday’s contest. Although we don’t expect Downie to maintain anything close to a point-per-game pace, the trade makes a lot from Colorado’s perspective. They had a surplus of defensemen, but could use an aggressive forward with enough offensive talent to not look out of place on the first or second line.

Columbus began their rebuilding process over the past month, but they didn’t address the issue of Rick Nash. Their captain wants out of Columbus, but they weren’t able to find a buyer who would satisfy their high demands. They’ll try again around the 2012 NHL entry draft and it won’t be until then or the summer that we’ll know if they were wise to hold onto Nash for a little longer.

As far as the trades they did over the last month, adequate is the word that comes to mind. They didn’t get as much for Carter as they gave up, but given the kind of season Carter is having, that is to be expected. Jack Johnson is a piece that can help them and while the draft picks might pay off in a few years, they aren’t a Stanley Cup contender yet nor are they clearly on the path towards becoming one. Still, after disappointment after disappointment, the first step towards turning things around is to start making bold moves.

In a way, that process began with the decision to go after Carter and while that ultimately proved to be a misstep, every move they’ve made over the last year or so suggests they are actively trying to find their footing and figure out what they need to do to get out of this franchise-long rut.

It’s rare and refreshing to see a team battling for one of the bottom playoff spots, choose to put their team’s future firmly ahead of its present. It is worth noting that the Stars’ chances of making the playoff have significantly improved in the week and a half since they traded Grossman.

The Stars could have done more if they wanted to be major sellers, such as trade Steve Ott, but they didn’t have to because Ott and the core of their team is either locked up or at least under their control as a potential restricted free agent. Grossman was probably the biggest trade chip amongst their crop of upcoming unrestricted free agents. None of their other potential summer of 2012 UFAs were likely to fetch them much, so even if you want to look at the Stars as pure sellers, they more or less fulfilled their goal.

The Dallas Stars aren’t a young team, but they do have some key players who are either young or in their prime and they have enough cap space to grow if the ownership is willing to put in the money. The Stars as they are don’t warrant a blowup nor were they in a position to be a major buyer, so their actions come off as both reasonable and disciplined.

Quincey is yet another example of the Detroit Red Wings’ late round picks paying off. The only problem is, he didn’t pay off for Detroit, at least not the first time around. Detroit took Quincey with the 132nd pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft and kept him in their organization for the next five years. He played in all of 13 games with Detroit before he got his big break with Los Angeles in 2008-09. Since then he’s established himself as a solid all-around blueliner.

Detroit was one of the few teams to surrender a first overall pick this season, but it’s worth keeping in mind that Quincey will be a restricted free agent this summer, so this wasn’t a rental addition. He bolsters their defense, which will not only help Detroit in their upcoming playoff run, but will also serve to soften the blow, should Nicklas Lidstrom decide to retire this summer.

Sometimes the best trade is the one you don’t make. That’s certainly the philosophy many general managers took this season. While some teams, like Los Angeles, decided to make a big splash, others added just complementary players or stuck with what they had. Were they right to do so? We’re going to break down what each Western Conference team did over the month of February to see who were the trade deadline’s winners and losers.

If the trade deadline was in December, Anaheim might have been a big seller, but they’ve been red hot lately and have risen to the cusp of relevancy in the battle for the eighth seed. If that sounds like an unimpressive accomplishment, it’s only because, in the grand scheme of things, it is. While they deserve credit for their play over the last two months, their odds of making the playoffs are still very slim.

Still, their recent rise has filled the front office with enough hope to hold onto what they have and only make minor trades over the last month. We can forgive them for their inaction because their core is relatively young and we recognize that there is no way they could stomach trading their icon, Teemu Selanne.

Grade: C

Calgary Flames

Added: None

Lost: None

The Calgary Flames set the bar for what it means to be stuck in limbo. They aren’t a terrible team – aging stars Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff see to that – but they are neither a Stanley Cup contender nor are they moving close to that ultimate goal. They are a team that’s content to fight for the fool’s gold that is the eighth seed rather than admit defeat and start the desperately needed rebuilding process.

A team like the Anaheim Ducks can hide behind their young core as justification for keeping their team largely intact, but the Flames have no such excuse.

The Blackhawks’ post-All-Star Game struggles have highlighted serious problems the team has to address if they want to even make the playoffs this season, let alone still be playing into May and June. However, if they are to turn their season around, it will be with largely the same core they entered the 2011-12 campaign with. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as, despite their current struggles, they do have the pieces in place to compete.

The acquisition of Johnny Oduya adds depth to the blueline, especially with the injuries to Steve Montador and Niklas Hjalmarsson. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the season so this is likely a rental player.

Colorado made their biggest move before the deadline, acquiring Downie in exchange for Quincey. They had blueliners to spare and Downie has proven to be a great fit in Colorado. He already has two goals and five points in three games, going into Monday’s contest. Although we don’t expect Downie to maintain anything close to a point-per-game pace, the trade makes a lot from Colorado’s perspective. They had a surplus of defensemen, but could use an aggressive forward with enough offensive talent to not look out of place on the first or second line.

Columbus began their rebuilding process over the past month, but they didn’t address the issue of Rick Nash. Their captain wants out of Columbus, but they weren’t able to find a buyer who would satisfy their high demands. They’ll try again around the 2012 NHL entry draft and it won’t be until then or the summer that we’ll know if they were wise to hold onto Nash for a little longer.

As far as the trades they did over the last month, adequate is the word that comes to mind. They didn’t get as much for Carter as they gave up, but given the kind of season Carter is having, that is to be expected. Jack Johnson is a piece that can help them and while the draft picks might pay off in a few years, they aren’t a Stanley Cup contender yet nor are they clearly on the path towards becoming one. Still, after disappointment after disappointment, the first step towards turning things around is to start making bold moves.

In a way, that process began with the decision to go after Carter and while that ultimately proved to be a misstep, every move they’ve made over the last year or so suggests they are actively trying to find their footing and figure out what they need to do to get out of this franchise-long rut.

It’s rare and refreshing to see a team battling for one of the bottom playoff spots, choose to put their team’s future firmly ahead of its present. It is worth noting that the Stars’ chances of making the playoff have significantly improved in the week and a half since they traded Grossman.

The Stars could have done more if they wanted to be major sellers, such as trade Steve Ott, but they didn’t have to because Ott and the core of their team is either locked up or at least under their control as a potential restricted free agent. Grossman was probably the biggest trade chip amongst their crop of upcoming unrestricted free agents. None of their other potential summer of 2012 UFAs were likely to fetch them much, so even if you want to look at the Stars as pure sellers, they more or less fulfilled their goal.

The Dallas Stars aren’t a young team, but they do have some key players who are either young or in their prime and they have enough cap space to grow if the ownership is willing to put in the money. The Stars as they are don’t warrant a blowup nor were they in a position to be a major buyer, so their actions come off as both reasonable and disciplined.

Quincey is yet another example of the Detroit Red Wings’ late round picks paying off. The only problem is, he didn’t pay off for Detroit, at least not the first time around. Detroit took Quincey with the 132nd pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft and kept him in their organization for the next five years. He played in all of 13 games with Detroit before he got his big break with Los Angeles in 2008-09. Since then he’s established himself as a solid all-around blueliner.

Detroit was one of the few teams to surrender a first overall pick this season, but it’s worth keeping in mind that Quincey will be a restricted free agent this summer, so this wasn’t a rental addition. He bolsters their defense, which will not only help Detroit in their upcoming playoff run, but will also serve to soften the blow, should Nicklas Lidstrom decide to retire this summer.

The Edmonton Oilers had a very quiet February, which, frankly, is to be expected. The selling portion of their rebuilding effort is behind them, but they’re certainly not ready to compete for a playoff spot just yet. For now, their focus is on developing their talented youngsters like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall and supplementing them with more draft selections and free agent acquisitions.

They still have some veterans on their team and a few names that came up in the rumor mill, but there is a benefit to having some veterans surround their up-and-coming stars. Besides, they’re on the right track and it seems unlikely that any of the upcoming unrestricted free agents they could have traded would have provided them with a significant return.

The Kings got the biggest prize in February and that means, for better or worse, they took the biggest risk. While they didn’t pay – if you’ll excuse the pun – a King’s ransom to get Carter, given his potential, if things go south in Los Angeles as they did in Columbus, then he might be very difficult to trade. Additionally, with Carter and Mike Richards both signed to long-term deals, the Kings have adopted part of the core that the Philadelphia Flyers ultimately felt would not win them a Stanley Cup.

That being said, if Carter lives up to his potential, then his $5,272,727 million annual cap hit starts to look pretty reasonable, especially when you look at some of the contracts that have been handed out recently. Reuniting Richards and Carter is an experiment that could backfire, but it could also turn an offensively starved team with an elite goaltender into a legitimate and long-term Stanley Cup contender.

The Minnesota Wild’s hand was forced by Marek Zidlicky, who wanted out, despite the fact that he was signed through 2012-13. Still, the Wild made the best of the situation and managed to get an impressive haul from New Jersey despite Zidlicky’s struggles this season. Given that Zidlicky turned 35 on Feb. 3, this trade probably helped the franchise in the long run.

In the meantime, though, the Wild are likely to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

The Predators gave up three high end prospects and a so-so prospect in Geoffrion for a solid defensive defenseman in Gill, a fixer upper in Kostitsyn, and a bottom-six forward in Gaustad. All three of which are going to become unrestricted free agents this season, so I guess Nashville must be thinking that this is the season they have to make a big playoff push.

To an extent, I can see where the Predators are coming from. Ryan Suter is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent and Shea Weber won’t be under their control for much longer. Although they have managed to lock up Pekka Rinne to a long-term contract, if they don’t go deep into the playoffs this season, Suter might walk and Weber might not be far behind them. Personally I think that problem is mitigated by the fact that they have some very appealing prospects in blueliners Ryan Ellis and Jonathan Blum, who could both be major contributors in the not too distant future.

I can understand why having Ellis and Blum in their organization isn’t reason enough to just shrug off the possible loss of two all-star caliber defensemen and I can’t even say I disagree with the Predators considering themselves buyers. Still, for what they gave up, they don’t really look like that much better of a team. They did add more grit, I’ll give them that, and given the results they got out of Sergei Kostitsyn, it should be interesting to see what they can do with his struggling older brother. It just doesn’t add up to being enough to warrant surrendering a first rounder and two second rounders, especially given the fact that all three can just walk this summer.

That’s a big factor because they don’t actually need to prove to Suter they can make a push this season. They need to prove to Suter that if he signs a long-term contract with them, they will be a serious Stanley Cup contender for years to come. They didn’t do that with these moves; all they did was show their willingness to mortgage the future without getting a lot in return.

It’s worth noting that while the trade didn’t make the cutoff, they got a second round pick from Kyle Turris, which in a way makes this deal an extension of that one. Vermette is having a terrible season with just eight goals and 27 points in 62 games, but the change of scenery might help him in the long run. At his best, Vermette is a solid second line center or even a passable first liner.

He’s signed through 2014-15 and comes with an annual cap hit of $3.75 million. That’s not bad if he bounces back, but it will look like an albatross of a deal if he continues to decline, which isn’t entirely out of the question. The Coyotes are definitely taking a risk with Vermette, but to their credit it’s a calculated one and it’s one where the upside outweighs the worst case scenario.

The San Jose Sharks are fading fast and were reportedly in the mix for Rick Nash. A Nash to San Jose move would have made a lot of sense, given the presence of playmaker Joe Thornton and would have certainly made the Sharks the team to watch for the final month of the regular season. Still, if the Blue Jackets’ price included Logan Couture, as was rumored, then we can understand why they passed on his services.

Instead, San Jose focused on filling some holes in their depth in the hopes that it will help them snap out of their slump in time to retake the Pacific Division. That’s a tall order, given that they’ll have to contend with the new Kings following the Jeff Carter trade and two surging squads in the Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks.

Ultimately, this isn’t looking like San Jose’s year and that will probably lead to another sizeable shakeup – and the possible acquisition of Nash – but we will have to wait until the summer to know for sure.

They got a second round pick for a 25-year-old AHL goaltender who would have become an unrestricted free agent anyways. Yes, Bishop has been pretty good in the minors, but they weren’t about to use him ahead of Jaroslav Halak or Brian Elliott. There’s nothing to dislike about this move from the Blues’ perspective. Overall it would have been nice to see them add something as they are a darkhorse contender to win the Stanley Cup.

Still, relative to what we saw from the rest of the Western Conference squads over the course of February, they were very successful.

Although Vancouver was actually pretty active in February, what this month will be remembered for in Canucks history is the moment it was announced they sent Hodgson to the Buffalo Sabres and got Kassian. The winner and loser of that deal won’t be known for years, but Kassian is more a physical presence and that will probably make him a better fit for Vancouver. Still, it’s hard to trade away one of your best secondary scorers – and one who has excelled despite averaging just 12:43 minutes per game – just before what could be a lengthy playoff run.